Academic activities at 13 schools under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation(BJMC) in the Khulna region will continue.
Boniz Uddin Miah, liaison officer of BJMC Khulna zone, said on Monday that the process of bringing these schools under Monthly Pay Order (MPO) benefits was in progress.
Earlier, the salaries and other benefits of the teachers of these schools were given from the income of the jute mills. After the closure of the mills, doubts arose as to whether the operations of the schools would continue.
Meanwhile, Khulna City Mayor Talukdar Abdul Khaleq said he had told the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the Ministry of Education to bring the educational institutions under government facilities.
He noted that in the past no government had taken any initiative for the benefit of jute mills workers and their families.
But the present government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had prioritized the welfare of jute mills workers and their families, he added.
Meanwhile, temporary teachers and employees of schools under jute mills are worried as they have been working on a temporary basis for a number of years.
Shila Momtaj, a teacher at the state-owned Star Jute Mill High School, said she had been working on a temporary basis for the past 10 years. Her job was yet to be regularised.
"We demand that the schools be brought under MPO benefits or direct control or supervision of the government." she added
On July 2, the government decided to shut down production at 25 state-run jute mills under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and at the same time clear the dues of some 25,000 workers of the mills.
The decision was taken at a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at her official residence Ganobhaban.
